Mayekar, of Houston, worked on the Obama for America campaign as its budget manager, managing about $ 600 million in campaign contributions and assisted the chief financial officer in operating the first major presidential campaign to exist outside the public financing system.
After Barack Obama's victory, he joined the transition team and eventually served as national security director in the White House's presidential personnel office, where he managed the selection process for presidential appointees at all national security agencies. Presently, he is the deputy chief of staff at the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation.
Chaudhuri, 28, born in California and currently finishing his PhD in biology at California Institute of Technology, focuses his research on small RNAs in cancer and the immune system, and has been supported by a Howard Hughes Medical Research Fellowship and a National Science Foundation
Graduate research fellowship. As an undergraduate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chaudhuri completed two Bachelor of Science degrees, in electrical engineering and computer science, and biology.
Galaiya, 24, is currently on a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship.
Ramaswamy, 25, of Cincinnati, graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard in 2007, majoring in biology. He was the chairman of the Harvard Political Union and served as one of three undergraduates chosen for an advisory board to select the current president of Harvard.
Sarkar, 25, born in Morristown, New Jersey, had attended Harvard, where he earned undergraduate degrees in applied mathematics and statistics and won election to Phi Beta Kappa. In India, he has worked as a researcher on educational census, gender empowerment, and anti-sex trafficking projects with local non-government organisations.
Each year, 30 students are chosen for the prestigious awards.
The Soros, who are Hungarian immigrants, established the awards in 1997 with a trust of $ 50 million, to highlight the contributions of new immigrants to the country. The fellowships are given to students pursuing graduate degrees and are unrestricted with regards to field or university. This year's 30 fellows were chosen from more than 1,000 applicants.
